ARTC maintenance improves safety and reliability on main line

Credit: ARTC

The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has carried out essential rail maintenance and improvement works on the main ARTC line between Sydney and Melbourne, improving safety and reliability across the network.

Works took place from 2 September to 5 September, and it included track re-railing, resurfacing, and reconditioning, as well as drainage restoration, track ballasting, turnout maintenance and bridge maintenance. Routine track maintenance activities were also completed, along with signalling works, and vegetation control works over 300km of track.

Credit: ARTC

The completed work – Credit: ARTC

The successful maintenance saw 23km of re-railing, two turnout upgrades, eight turnouts resurfaced, and 1,200 new concrete sleepers installed. These works are part of ARTCs additional investment of more than $170 million over the next three years to improve network resilience, further helping to reduce speed restrictions.

“We are pleased to report that over 22,000 hours of work was completed at 118 worksites across the corridor with no injuries or safe-working breaches,” Costas Kokkoni, General Manager of Asset Maintenance Services for ARTC, said. “40 Temporary Speed Restrictions (TSRs) were removed with a total improvement of 35 minutes for Super Freight, with more TSRs to be lifted in the upcoming days. ARTC would like to thank the community for its patience while these critical, long-term improvements took place.”